Legally, the act of
creation is copyright in itself. There are many ways to
prove you were first. Historically, a sealed postmarked
letter with a copy of the tune inside used to be the poor
man's copyright. Today, text in the body of an email is
date-stamped, and holds up in court as evidence.
Publishing a tune in a
book, newspaper or recording it on a CD gives further
dated evidence of an ownership claim. Similarly,
registering with an government agency for copyright, or
private organization which distributes performance or
mechanical royalties all leave dated evidence of your
claim. Registering with SOCAN
(the Canadian agency that collects and distributes
performance royalties) or CMRRA (the Canadian agency that
issues mechanical licenses) is only necessary if a tune
has been recorded and/or is getting radio/television
airplay - or is being performed by musicians in
registered venues. Bigger venues are registered with
SOCAN and pay a small portion of the gate back to SOCAN -
work forms have to be filled in by the performers in
order to get that money redistributed to the
composers. Composers take note -
most agencies hold revenues in trust for at least three
years after a performance or recording is made (i.e.: you
can register after you know money is due). Similarly
reciprocal agreements between agencies in different
countries mean that if you pursue your claim, you should
get paid eventually. For more
detailed information go to Copyrights,
A Canadian Perspective
Copyrighting your Tunes
- is it necessary??
last update 11/3/04